How To Create A Profitable Second-Act Career

There’s often a tendency at career transition points to look at your last job and say, "What’s my next logical move?" But this is the point where you should look back at your whole life, going back to your childhood, former hobbies and any volunteer work you’ve done to see which parts you want to integrate into what you want to do next.

You might suddenly remember that wonderful summer camp job you had or the fact that you used to play piano. Then you can look for a way to begin a new career related to those experiences.

Your book has Life Story Worksheets for readers to fill out. What are they for?

If you’re pulling together 40 to 60 years of your history to determine your second-act career, that’s a lot of data. The Life Story Worksheets give you an easy way to organize all that information. When you read through them, you will begin to see vivid patterns. Things will jump out at you.

Why do you recommend reading college catalogs to get a second-act career going?

Colleges, especially community colleges, offer training programs for in-demand fields. So reading college catalogs is a great way to get ideas about hot careers. A lot of the training programs let you earn certificates in under a year.

You say people who are unsure what their second-act career should be may want to throw “idea parties” for themselves. What’s an idea party?

That’s something career counselor Barbara Sher came up with. You invite friends over for a potluck dinner to brainstorm ideas for your second-act career. If you bring in 10 people over 50, there will be more than 500 years of experience and expertise in the room. The ideas and energy that come from that can be incredibly powerful.

Everyone plays off each other and they’re wired to help. Many of them will be going through the same process as you are. So they’ll come listening for themselves, which makes it easier for them to get engaged.

Let’s talk about some specific second-act careers, like becoming a blogger. Can anyone do that and make money at it?

There’s a real misperception that if you just write a blog that's interesting, entertaining and engaging, it will translate into a blog you can monetize. It’s not that simple.

You can make money blogging, but it takes consistent effort and you have to pick a smart market niche as well as a topic that can be monetized. Many people who make money blogging are doing it by creating informational products they then sell to their fan base.

There are some people, mostly in their 20s, who are making six figures by blogging. I don’t think there’s any reason why people in their 50s or 60s can’t, too.

Getting paid to travel, another semi-retirement career you write about, sounds like fun.

Yeah, I’m sure that’ll be everybody’s favorite chapter. You won’t necessarily earn a lot as a tour guide, but you’ll be able to offset the cost of your travel. For a lot of people in retirement, travel is a big expense.

If you become a tour director and lead a 10-day trip in Europe, you’ll only earn about $150 a day, plus tips. But you’ll get the trip for free and your spouse can often come along for a minimal cost. So you may get what equates to a $10,000 benefit.

Of course, there are stresses and the job can be exhausting. If suddenly there’s volcanic ash in the air during your tour, you’re the person who has to figure out Plan B for the group. But you’ll still be able to enrich your world by traveling more frequently, visiting places you couldn’t otherwise afford and enjoying one-of-a-kind travel experiences without having to dip into your savings.